The Drawing
by LaurenTiger
Summary: Cal said it was a pity he didn't keep the drawing. But what if he had? And what if Rose finds it? Just an idea that popped in my head while watching the movie. One shot, complete.


"What in the world?" Rose wondered out loud to no one. She reached into the safe, the new one that Cal had purchased to replace the one lost with the Titanic, and pulled out the sheet of paper.

No. It was impossible. Cal had kept it after all?

She blinked her eyes several times, trying to focus her eyes. She was surely seeing things. This was a contract of some sort, or some other legal document. Rose squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten. When she opened them, she was positive that she wouldn't be seeing what she thought she was.

The image didn't change. She gasped. It was her drawing. She was stretched out on the couch, wearing only the Heart of the Ocean.

Why had he kept it? Rose cringed at the possible reasons. It didn't matter why he had kept it. It only mattered that he kept it at all.

A tear slipped down her cheek and she wiped it away. She looked at where Jack had signed it.

April 14 1912 JD

Rose ran her thumb lightly over his initials and felt a sob in her throat. She gave into it as she sat on the bed. There was a kick in her stomach as a response.

Six months had passed and the pain was a fresh as it was when they docked in New York. Jack died before the lifeboats returned. Rose had been tempted to break her promise and die with him that night in the middle of the freezing Atlantic. But she didn't want Jack to die in vain, so she managed to call the lifeboats back.

In New York, Rose lived quietly, living off the money Cal had left in his coat pocket. She was free from them, finally. She had options that had never existed; she could live out her dreams. Then one morning Rose woke up sick, throwing up until there was nothing left in her stomach. After a few days, Rose learned from a doctor that she was pregnant.

Rose was carrying Jack's child.

For days Rose thought, and thought hard. She knew that she could manage to get by on very little. But it wasn't just her anymore. The money wouldn't last forever. Eventually, Rose would have to find work. Rose wasn't stupid; she knew that finding work while pregnant would be both difficult and dangerous. The last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize the life of Jack's son or daughter.

She bought a ticket to Philadelphia.

Her mother had begun to weep the moment that she saw Rose. Cal's glass of brandy shattered at his feet. Rose explained that she had changed her last name to Dawson aboard the Carpathia. She made no apologies for hiding from them and was honest about her reasons. Then she told them that she was pregnant.

Cal immediately told her to leave, but Rose refused. She played on his weak spots, telling him that she expected nothing except for a safe home for her child to grow up in. She promised Cal that the child would be owed nothing from Hockley Steel and even offered to sign a legal document, binding her to her word. Rose pointed out to Cal that while their wedding date had passed a week ago, they could still marry and claim that the baby was early.

Ruth jumped in to agree. Up until Rose showed up, Ruth had been living with the Hockleys trying to work the widowed Nathan Hockley into marriage. If Rose left, Ruth was sure that she wouldn't be far behind. Ruth told them that they could make the morning papers with a story. Rose had sustained amnesia and wandered New York lost and confused. The moment her memory had returned, she returned to Philadelphia. Ruth pointed out that they could be married within a week as Cal had the resources to make it happen.

It took a few hours, but Cal agreed. A week later, Rose Dawson, formerly Rose DeWitt-Bukater, became Rose Hockley. The papers loved it, printing a romantic story of lost lovers, and the public ate it up.

Rose hated it.

Certainly this was the only way that she could guarantee her child's safety. Wasn't it?

Rose took a deep breath and looked at the drawing. She looked at the safe. Inside were stacks of cash. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. There was enough for Rose to live off of comfortably and then some. She still had the Heart of the Ocean and the cash from Cal's coat as well. When she showed up wearing his coat, Cal questioned her, but Rose told him that nothing had been in the pockets. He didn't question further when she pointed out that she had been in the water and anything in them could have easily fallen out. Cal didn't know that Rose had hidden them the night she returned in her undergarments. Since then, they had remained hidden under their mattress.

Could she do it? Could she take all of that money and run as far as she could? Would Cal find her in Santa Monica? Could Rose Hockley once again become Rose Dawson?

Rose rubbed her swollen belly. She still had three months before the baby was born. Surely that enough time to find a home. She glanced at the clock. Cal was at the plant and wouldn't be home for hours. Her mother was on her honeymoon, having married Nathan Hockley after all.

Rose decided that it was now or never.

She moved swiftly, packing only what she needed. Rose wrapped the stacks of cash in her change of undergarments and the Heart of the Ocean in her nightgown. Rose rolled the drawing and placed it in her bag. The train station was a short, walking distance and the weather was decent for November. Making sure that none of the servants saw her, Rose slipped quietly out the back door.

Covering her hair as she left the property, Rose smiled to herself. Until today, Rose felt like she had broken her promise to Jack. Now she was keeping it. A warmth filled her and she was certain it was Jack's spirit. The baby kicked.

She entered the train station with the intention of buying a ticket on the first train out of town, no matter where it was headed. It she had to travel back to New York first and then get a train to California, then so be it. Rose wasn't taking the chance of Cal finding her. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the next train, which left in twenty minutes, was headed for Los Angles.

Rose sat on the train next to the window, having chosen a first class car only for comfort and pulled out the drawing. She leaned it toward the window to avoid prying eyes and gazed at Jack's initials. She smiled as she ran her thumb lightly over them.

For the first time since she had met Jack, she felt free. She was going to a place that she could call home. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of hope. Rose Hockley was dead. Rose Dawson would live on until she died an old woman, warm in her bed.


End file.
